Hermione Granger and the Totally Stress free year
by fionaXhasXwings
Summary: Hermione Granger has changed a lot as a person in just one summer. new atitude, new style. but she has to repeat 7th year since she never really did it a first time and she's head girl. and Malfoy's head boy. and this is trouble.
1. Chapter 1

JKR's best character and her repeat of 7th year (as she and her bests friends were off galavanting through all of Europe after Voldemorts playthings.) And everyone else who survived the 7th book. as a warning, Hermiones gotten quite glib and irreverant, a side effect of all the horror shes witnessed.

-Chapter 1-

Late August, a letter came by owl. Well, I wasn't surprised at that. I was expecting a list of shit to get and things to do. I had been itching to read all the books for next year, get a head start on things. I had high expectations of 7th year. With Voldemort gone and Malfoy being public enemy #1, I figured things could not get better. And I was terribly bored of summer. My parents forced me to take muggle classes at a community college and the boring shit I was forced to learn really got old fast. After 6 years of learning of learning fairly tales and alchemy as Real Life Skills, arithmetic and geography really bored me to death. But there were a few perks, a few skills I'd picked up that I appreciated. How to hold a beer bong, for instance. How to sit back, party and pull the long, thick stick out of my perfect little ass. Yes, I had loosened up considerably. I planned to become slightly irresponsible and vaguely badassed this year. After all, my 2 best friends and I beat down the most feared Dark lord of all time, and I was the top of all my classes. So why not live it up a little? Well, the letter that came by owl (y'know, the one that _wasn't_ a surprise) frankly, shocked the living hell out of me. Along with my list of shit to get and things to do, a Head Girls badge and personal note from McGonagall landed in my lap. A few seconds later my chin followed.

_Dear Hermione Granger, _

_I am pleased to inform you that I have picked you, the brightest, most responsible, and most qualified young witch I have seen in a long while to be this year's head girl. The Head boy you will be working with is Draco Malfoy. He shows leadership qualities that I admire, and though his past was, at times, questionable, trust me when I say there has been a drastic change in his ways. _

_You to will, together, be head the prefects meetings that meet Thursdays at 6:00pm every other week, you will arrange holiday events together, and keep a united front as you generally watch over and represent Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry. Please consider this a great honor and do not disappoint me._

_Sincerely, _

_Headmaster McGonagall_

Needless to say, I was a slight bit disappointed. I had forgotten how much I rocked at responsibility before. This summer, I had tried so hard to forget about a lot of things about the past, and in the process had forgotten about my insufferable know-it- allness. Oops. But that wasn't the worst of it- **his past was at times questionable?!? Drastically changed his ways?!? DRACO FUCKING MALFOY IS HEAD FUCKING BOY?** Strike one, Minerva. I'm already starting to question your managerial decisions. You forgot about all the nerdy young Ravenclaws just stroking their privates thinking of that kind of position! (pun totally intended) This was awful. But I had to do it. I just had to. And now that the owl had arrived, it was time to get a move on to the burrow and meet up with my boys. Ooohhh, and figure out how to tell Ron, without ripping his soul out that I had lost all interest. Poor boy. Poor me. I was in a pickle.

I was surprised at how relieved I was to be at the burrow when I got there. Mrs. Weasley was the only one to meet me inside, seeing as her tribe plus Harry were playing with balls outside on their flying sticks. The old man was at work.

"Oh, why hello there dear, it's so good to see you again! How have you been?" She buzzed exuberantly around me, and hugged me tightly, but I couldn't help but notice that she looked older, haggard. Tired and sad. My mind returned to the tragedies of the recent past, and my heart ached for her. I realized how hard it would be to be here.

"Well, I've been wonderful. I'm so happy to be back with my second mom, though." I smiled and pulled away., flopping down on the couch and sighing heavily.

"I'm going to call everyone inside to say hi to you." Mrs. Weasley said, moving towards the door.

"Oh, no, please, let them keep playing, I saw them at quidditch on my way inside, I was going to put my stuff upstairs, don't bother, really." I said quickly.

'alright dear, I'll be in making dinner, then. Mr. Weasley's on his way home.' She nodded towards the peculiar clock that told locations.

I can't wait to see him I have something for-" BLAM! A slamming door and loud voices stopped me midsentence, and the next few minutes or so were a flurry of greetings and hugs. Ron looked particularly happy to see me, I noticed guiltily. George looked more solemn than usual, missing an ear and a brother. It tugged at my heartstrings to see the broken family.

But the next week was fun despite everything. Ginny forced me onto a broom and I found that since riding a dragon out of a well protected bank, I was a little less scared of heights. I practiced every day after that. At diagon alley, I bought myself a humble, but sleek and pretty broom, seeing something new in flying.

I split off from the group to get a couple extra required books at flourish and blots that they didn't have to. As I peroused the shelves trying to find an elusive text, I bumped into someone.

'oh, jesus, I'm so sorry," I said, but when I looked up I wished I could take the apology back. Draco Malfoy would surely use it against me. But he didn't.

"Hello, Granger," he said carefully. "Did you get the note from McGonagall?"

"Yes, I did" I replied. "it seems we're stuck in rather close quarters this year."

He inhaled before replying. "Well, I won't bite if you don't," he said, and held his hand out. I took it, shook it firmly, once, before nodding curtly and striding out of the room. Yea, that was his move, but it wasn't like he copyrighted it, and I didn't want to spend to much time being civil to the man I still considered to be the cause of Dumbledore's death.


	2. Chapter 2

Back at the burrow, Harry, Ron, Ginny and I packed our things quickly before sitting together in the living area, cherishing our last night of freedom. I told them, finally, about being head girl. I told them about seeing Malfoy. As I explained everything, Harry and Ginny's expressions were as I predicted. Pissed, then confused, then surprise melted into dumbfounded. Ron's face (well, everything above the neck, really) got redder and redder as he heard the terrible news. Which, granted was terrible, but it was more confusing. Malfoy wasn't a total asshole. He was civil. He swallowed his pride and (god forbid) shook a mudblood's hand. So I had decided that, until further notice, I would be civil to the ferret boy. But Ron still blew up.

"Why would McGonagall do this? You hate him, he hates you! This is bollocks, it would never have happened if Dumble-" Ron exclaimed, but I cut him off.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!!!" I lost it when he said aloud what I had been thinking. Somehow it sounded worse coming from him. "That's not necessarily true, ok? He was civil, he didn't call me names, sneer, nothing. And don't question McGonagall's abilities just because she did something you don't like. It's not fair!" everyone looked at me in absolute shock. I knew I'd just told off Ron, but we'd yelled before, and this was worse. They all looked at me, totally aghast. Oh yea, I never used to swear. Oops. Well, they would just have to get used to it.

"Her-mion-ne, you, I, um, sorry," Ron sputtered, looking lost. I felt a wave of remorse and sat. But I didn't say anything. Apologizing would be giving in, but to lecture him further- well, nothing could be done.

"Show us the letter, Hermione," said Ginny. She was a quick thinker, and right now I really admired her social skills and patience.

"Yea, I want to see exactly what she said on it," Harry seconded. I pulled it out of my purse and gave it to them. I still hadn't spoken. I handed it to them and sat by Ron, I gave him a look of apology, and he inched away from me fearfully.

We spent the rest of the night analyzing the letter, Malfoy's actions, and my response.

'I say you don't let up. Don't be nice to him! It's a trick, Hermione, I don't what he's doing, but it he's up to no good," Ron didn't insult anyone outright, but didn't cave on his opinion. I didn't explode, either. He might have been right.

"Well, I feel like I should give ferret a chance, and start afresh. If he's going to be civil, then I will too. Starting now. So I take back the ferret comment," I grinned at Ron.

"Well, you don't have to be more than civil. If you go making friends with him, I'll- umm… hit.. a girl… I guess," harry faltered on his empty threat and we laughed.

"Aww, bummer," I said. "I was so excited to replace you jackasses."

They all looked at me reproachfully. "Well, except you Ginny. I still love you," I smiled at her.

"OK, good. Because I was going to be insulted," she said.

"actually, I'm a bit frightened to move in with the bugger, I was wondering if you wanted to have a repetitive sleepover all year" I asked, half joking. "I'm sure the heads dorm is lovely."

"Ooh, and get away from those jackasses?" she pretended to consider it.

"Hey, this jackass is your brother!" Ron protested.

"This jackass is your boyfriend!" Harry's complaint followed.

She laughed, "OK, I rescind the comment about you, Harry, but Ron, you're my brother. You kinda have to be a jackass."

Ron pretended to pout, but we all ended up laughing. The conversation lilted and rolled happily until bedtime, when harry and Ron bid us adieu and we all tried to sleep.

The next morning we got to the train with seconds to spare, thanks to zombie Ron, and Ginny's forgotten hairbrush. We rushed our goodbyes to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, but Ron's and Ginny's seemed more sincere than usual. It may have been my imagination, but it seemed as though they wanted to make every goodbye meaningful. Ron even returned his mothers 'I love you' instead of groaning and turning red. The seemingly simple display tugged my heartstrings more than I wanted to admit, so I rushed through the portal and leapt onto the train. I strode quickly as possible to the heads compartment and sat down without looking up, fiddling with my iPod and muttering an incantation to make it work through magic with no batteries. As I concentrated a tad too hard to be normal, Malfoy walked in. I honestly was surprised, because I hadn't looked around enough to know whether he was there or not.

"Hello, Granger," he said casually, and sat across from me. "is McGonagall here yet?"

"Uh, no, I haven't seen her" I said. "She's probably directing traffic until the train leaves." Just then, the train lurched and we were off. I looked mildly surprised, then laughed. "Perfect timing." Malfoy laughed, too. An unexpected sound coming from him. It startled me, and made me realize that this was more than civil. I rushed to put my headphones in and murmured a sort of goodbye before blasting Aerosmith. Malfoy looked confused and moved next to me to rip one out of my ear.

"What is that?!?" he asked in a hysterically bewildered tone.

"It's a muggle thing." I looked at him challengingly to see his reaction to the word. Nothing. His eyebrows went up quizzically, but there was no sneer, no nothing, a lip twitch was the only hint of reaction.

"You can keep music from a lot of different artists on it and play it wherever you go. It keeps me sane nowadays." I continued, but shut my mouth when McGonagall walked in. She surveyed us on the same seat together, looking at a common object, and I can't be sure, but it looked to me as though she relaxed a bit, knowing that both her heads were intact, neither of us had set the other on fire or ripped them to pieces. I looked to see if Malfoy noticed. He had a smirk on his face, so he must have. It was his trademark smirk. I guess old habits die hard, and I was glad that it wasn't directed at me.

She launched into a spiel about professional behavior, no killing (or kissing, but she glanced through it in a way that seemed as though she didn't want to offend us) curfew is 4 AM, yada yada, and some other stuff. Everything she said was fairly predictable (no one could even visit our dorm because the location was a secret, so Ginny's sleeping over was out) eventually I tuned her out.

When she left, I yawned and replugged myself and listened to Bob Marley for a while. I must have dozed off, because as I was dreadlocking my hair in the African savannah with my wand and smoking a hookah with a kangaroo, it started to shake me and whisper in a British accent it didn't have before "Hermione, Hermione, wake up. You have to put your robes on, we're almost to the school. " my eyes cracked open and I groaned. I awkwardly wiped the string of drool from my mouth and Malfoy doubled over with laughter.

"OK, shut up now. Haha, yea, I get funny. You can stop now though," I smiled despite myself. He gradually hiccupped it all out as I sat, arms folded, and stared him down with mock ferocity.

"So, you were talking in your sleep, you know," his eyes glinted mischeiviously. "you said "load it, man." And muttered and something about "drink it all, death cup, loser' whats a death cup?" he asked. I swallowed hard as I realized that I'd been dreaming about a with interspecies party with beer bongs, beer pong, and hookahs."

"it's, uh, a party – muggle, thing you uh, wouldn't know about it," I stammered. "it's not important, really. Forget it."

He grinned. "Uh uh", he said, "death cup, what is it? What did you mean by load it?" I didn't want to answer. But I figured that I'd surprise him a little. He wouldn't know what to do with the other side of me. Maybe he'd see me differently, not a bookworm. So I explained my summer to him.

"well, my parents put me in muggle school every summer. Really, boring I always hated it. No friends, no fun. I study boring bullshit that I'll never need all summer long. But this summer, in my college writing class, I met these really cool girls, Ashley and Tiffany." I spoke quickly, quietly. It was so strange, crossing the two opposite parts of my world, explaining non magical society to a wizard- my worst enemy who had put them all in danger, no less. But I pressed on. "Well, I started hanging out with them a lot. First time I had marks lower than my peers, actually. We went to parties, and we drank some. We went out and caused trouble, and had a great time. Anyway, load it is probably hookah, it's a device to smoke flavored tobacco out of. If you try hard enough and get your mouth just right, you can blow little rings out of your mouth, it's quite cool. And a death cup is when in beer pong you shoot someone cup of beer that they have to drink-"

"well, this is all very interesting," he interrupted, "but what's beer pong?"

Well then I had to explain the rules and he expressed his surprise at my capricious and undignified existence out of Hogwarts, and we had a grand old time chatting about how much of a scoundrel I was. We completely forgot the time and I was almost late leaving the train, but I changed in the compartment (he promised not to look) and we scrambled out into the crowd looking as illustrious as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: these three chapters seem short, but i hope they get longer. i don't know whether to go into more detail or less, and i would love some feedback, so R&R, please. suggestions, scrutiny, i need it all. Other than that, enjoy.

To start off our year of Head's duties, we had to herd children into carriages and boats. The first years looked so small and scared as they went off in their little boats. We broke up a few fights and guided everyone into the carriages. As they all jumped onto the carriages, i noticed the thestrals. i had seen death. i wondered how many other students could see them now, too. They were another reminder of my horrible year and gravely Malfoy and I looked at them.

"Last year was just awful," I said quietly, almost to quiet for him to hear. I wasn't sure if this topic was out of bounds, or if it was alright to talk about.

'It was. I can't imagine what it must have been like to be on your side, though. We hunted you down like mad. Especially you." He looked at me carefully, "A mudblood running about with Harry Potter. Pretty big target to wear on your forehead."

I nodded, excusing the slur. It didn't apply here, it was meant to signify the prejudices. They were in the past, now. I studied him. He looked back at me. A thestral stamped impatiently, and we realized that we need to go, now. Everyone had gone. we had stood in silence for a while, just looking at the ominous creatures. We climbed into the carriage and continued the conversation.

"You're different now. You don't insult me, you treat me like a human," I said hesitantly, after rolling the phrase over in my mouth, wondering if I should say it or not.

A smile played at his lips, but didn't reach his eyes. "My parents are gone for good. I don't have to live up to their expectations. Every Death Eater is killed, or in Azkaban. Another word for death, really, that place."

"I don't feel sorry for them," I said nastily. He looked at me intensely, but did not reply. We both knew that I had every right to hate them, but my outburst seemed harsh, even to me. Dementors are no joke. "I-I mean, you have to admit that they deserved to be punished severely, forever. It was awful to go through. I mean, really terrible." I rubbed my scars, a ghost of a tingly feeling physically manifested the scene running through my head. Our capture, my torture. It all happened in his house. I felt dirty, sitting next to the son of such a vile monster, but forced myself to be open minded. He was nodding in agreement. He had changes, McGonagall was right.

"Let's change the subject, this is depressing. Qudditch-weather-school-politics-qudditch," I said all in a row, very fast, to add some levity.

"I'm starving," he said, "and I'm afraid I'll have to revert to the dark side if there isn't any chicken. I'm quite looking forward to the steak-and-kidney pie, also."

I laughed, "Yea, I might join you if the potatoes are missing. If McGonagall doesn't feed us, I swear I'll just let the students run amuck."

"Well, thats quite the threat. i sincerely hope there are potatoes," he said.

The rest of the ride was spent joking and trying to keep our minds off of the past. the way we were acting now, it seemed as though this year would be quite enjoyable, even if Ferret was my constant companion. He was pleasant enough to talk to, and seemed intent on changing our opinions of each other.

Finally, the ride ended and we ran into the great hall. We decided to not even try to sneak into the hall, and decided that a dramatic entrance was best. Luckily, McGonagall hadn't started her speech before we entered. We pushed the doors open and strode dramatically to our spots at the head of our tables. We settled ourselves in, and tried to look proper. McGonagall rose the moment we took our seats and began her speech. She assured us that Hogwarts was safe again. Even safer, as certain other loopholes in security had been attended to. She introduced us as heads, and laid down the ground rules for the first years that had just been sorted. I realized how late we were, and how much trouble we would be in. but I figured we could just explain that we got caught up in a conversation and she would be grateful that we were getting along.

As soon as the food arrived, I left the head of the table and sat down next to Ginny and everyone. Harry grinned at me, and pumpkin juice dribbled from Ron's mouth. I giggled at the typicality of the reception. it seemed nice, innocent to be back, learning, being a student, being a child. Not on the run from dark wizards or any of that. we were safe, and life went on. for some of us.

"eyr er oo?" Ron asked. I took the clumsy syllables to mean 'where were you?' and answered appropriately. I launched into a somewhat detailed account of the train ride and his new personality, leaving out the sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll summer story I had told. Somehow, I figured that they wouldn't be so open minded about that. Harry looked almost offended that Malfoy would dare bring up last year. Everyone looked upset when I brought it up, and the rest of dinner was spent in solemnity. Even Ron pushed his plate away and looked sad. It was hard to think about, everything was so fresh. I wanted to run away to the dorm and see it. I wanted to go outside, get some fresh air, take a walk, and smoke a fag. I excused myself and went to find the head boy, so we could get our scolding from the headmistress over with.

I stood, and walked to his seat. A few slytherins leered at me from around him. He looked hostile, and I suddenly remembered I was in enemy territory. I needed to tread lightly.

"Hey, mudblood," said one.

"How may I serve you, my liege," said another.

"You can serve me by pissing off, I need to talk to the head boy," I retorted. so much for treading lightly. i forgot how much this house sucked. As they cackled, Malfoy stood. He looked at them fiercely, and their expressions flickered. I observed the group as they tried to understand why their prince didn't back them up. They didn't get it. Malfoy looked at me, nodded, and as he brushed past me, I turned and followed him. We walked up to Minerva McGonagall. As we walked, I told him the game plan.

"The headmistress looks pissed to me, so I want to get this over with so I can go outside and smoke a fag. So we're going to apologize for being late and… I dunno, go from there I guess. Tell her the truth about what we were doing, no point in lying. She'll probably appreciate our 'bonding session'" I laughed off the last two words so he wouldn't read into it.

"sounds good to me, I figured we were in for something. " He said, 'wait- you smoke? Smoking will kill you, you know. It's a nasty habit."

"Sod off, mother, I don't want our boss to hear you," indeed, we were t minus 10 steps away from McGonagall and counting.

"Judgment day," Malfoy quipped. We approached her. She eyed us reproachfully, and I hesitated. I took a breath and spoke.

"I'm so sorry we were late, I just got distracted by the thestrals, and we started talking, and we were kind of… reminiscing, I guess," I stated lamely.

"It won't happen again, I promise. We will save our conversations for when we are off duty,' Malfoy said. Somehow he sounded more confident. I was jealous of his demeanor.

"If you were any later I would be very upset." McGonagall said sternly. "I won't accept your being late at all. But in this case, the students had all taken their seats seconds before you walked in, so I accept your apology and I'll let you off with a warning."

I breathed a sigh of relief and we turned to go.

"Malfoy!" Her sharp call stopped us in our tracks. "I'll hold you to what you said. Do not let it happen again. You can both go now. I'll show you to your dormitories in 20 minutes. Meet me here. Don't be late."

Her last words had a distinct message to them, and so I picked up my steps and rushed out into the cool night air. I put my iPod in and lit up. The bitter taste and heat matched my mood, matched my personality. I felt bitter since the battle. I had lost so many people, so many people were gone. I felt bitter. It was barely a victory when we had lost so many.

As I took one last drag and stamped it out, something came over my head. I grabbed my wand with fumbling hands, someone else was reaching for it as well. I felt a punch in my face, two. I was blind, I couldn't defend myself. I grasped my wand tightly, but said no magic. I stabbed and punched back, hitting air.

"PROTEGO!" I shouted and a cry rang out. A blow to the gut landed me on the ground, more blows to the head came, and my head went foggy.

"protego," came a faint cry, but I heard nothing else.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: longer chapter this time, but again it covers a short amount of time. I'm dropping song names, but I'm not associated with them in any way except to really like them. Propaganda, if you will. About the story, I'm flying by the seat of my pants with it, and welcome any feedback that anyone has.

I felt a rumbling in my throat, and far away heard a deep groan. Everything hurt, and I felt myself being lifted by someone.

"Come on, you little sack of potatoes," said a faraway voice. My body protested as it was moved by this voice. It must have been death eaters. We had been captured again and were being carried (why carried? Apparate, it's less painful) away to Voldemort. He was going to get Harry. Had Harry gotten away? I didn't know. I didn't know where I was, or what was happening. A few ages later, I felt a gentle prodding of a wand over various parts of my body. I cringed, awaiting even more pain. But the pain lessened instead of getting worse as the prodding continued, and I gradually felt numb. But what about Harry? Was he OK? I tried to open my eyes, to move my body, but I felt paralyzed. I just wanted to rest.

"I just cleaned her up. She had a lot of bruises, and they did a real number to her face, but it's alright now. I don't think she needs the hospital wing." Draco Malfoy? What?

"Well, I'll see about that. Is this ankle broken, or sprained? A break will need skele-gro, but I don't think… it's just a sprain." McGonagall too. But I hurt too much to be dreaming.

My ankle stopped throbbing, and I felt numb. So they fixed it. But what a strange combination of people. And a hospital wing? Then I remembered. Hogwarts. Head girl. I went outside, and the people… who were they?

I sat up and looked around a bit too quickly, but I shook it off.. Malfoy and McGonagall looked surprised.

"Who did that? How did I get here? Did anyone see-"

"It was a few blokes from Slytherin, they ran off as I came out. They flew away on broomsticks, I didn't see their faces. I don't think everyone there has given up the war entirely. I'm going to go down to my house to have a talk with everyone. I think there may be a bit of a rebellion this year, but I'll warn them… what is the punishment for attacking the head girl? And as a hate crime left over from the war?" Malfoy looked fairly sinister as he talked.

"Expulsion," spat McGonagall. "Malfoy, You and Professor Sintak go address your house. I'll tend to Ms. Granger in my office. Meet us there when you are finished." Malfoy nodded once and left. I didn't know Sintak well. He looked like Snape, but not so greasy or menacing, and 20 years younger, and with a german accent. So, he was nothing like him, but I swear they looked exactly alike. He was the new Slytherin head of house. I didn't get a very good vibe from him.

McGonagall and I spoke quietly as we went to her office. "Are you alright?" she asked. "Does anything still hurt?" she looked over me with her severe eagle eyes.

"Only my pride," I muttered. "My best mates and I kick the Dark Lords Ass, but I still got it from a few Slytherin kids." I glanced up at her. She had a wry little smile, and I couldn't tell if she was amused or of the smile was for my benefit.

"Well, when they put a bag over your head with no warning, it can't be considered a fair fight. The fact that you even got one hit in was impressive, they got to your wand almost before you. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore." The last three words were directed at the familiar gargoyle that turned and revealed a staircase up to her office. We hiked up it and sat down in her office.

I decided to ask her a question I had had since I got her letter. I hesitated, and sat in thought. I didn't want to phrase it wrong, but I had to ask. I dreaded it though. McGonagall had always scared me a little.

Professor, um, headmistress, uh, Mcgona-" well this was starting off well. Out with it, jackass, "why did you choose Malfoy, of all people, to work beside me as head boy?"

She smiled. "I figured you would ask that. Malfoy's upbringing was very difficult, and much different than yours. He had to obey his father." She looked wistful, "in families like his, you have no choice. His parents were his biggest, well, in all honesty, his only influence. With them gone, he's free to become a functional member of a peaceful society. I want to help him with that. Even he deserves a second chance."

I nodded thoughtfully. "But what made you decide to help him? Was it your decision or did he come to you?"

McGonagall was quiet for a moment before answering me. "I think that's up to him to tell you. It's his story, and it's somewhat personal."

"Alright, I understand. How did you know that we could work together?"

She smiled again. "I didn't."

Oh, great. Thanks, headmistress. I didn't have time to say much else, because just then, Malfoy walked in with Sintak. They both looked very angry. Malfoy spoke first. I found it amazing just then that Malfoy was so good at taking charge of things. I suddenly understood why McGonagall praised his leadership skills.

"So, I talked to Sintak and we decided that I should walk in to the common room first, as a student, and get a feeling for what was going on." They exchanged frustrated glances. "They are feeling very rebellious. Almost the whole house was down there, the password is 'Azkaban' in honor of the _heroes_ there." He glowered. Sintak spoke.

"You'll have to be quite careful guarding your head girl. If the punishment for harming her is expulsion, then there just may not be a Slytherin house by the end of the year. Malfoy and I managed to settle them down, but they seem to think that we have done something very wrong. We told them that the war was over, and they could finish it in a mass detention in the great hall for 3 hours on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday night. The quidditch team is not happy. They're missing their first two practices." He smiled at me and winked. "I did that on purpose."

I laughed despite the gravity of the situation. Maybe he was alright after all. I yawned. This was a terrible start to the year, but I was tired. I wanted to go to sleep. McGonagall seemed to understand that it was almost midnight and classes were tomorrow, because she fairly jumped out of her seat and ran us to our dorm, dismissing Sintak abruptly.

When Malfoy and I got there, I couldn't help but be in a good mood. The common room was huge, as big as my house, with a kitchen and a huge bookshelf containing all our books for the year and then some. Rich gold and dark green was the color scheme, going together surprisingly well. Two set of staircases framed the back wall. Lions guarded the one on the left, and snakes climbed the wall of the right. Three guesses who went where. Malfoy and I grinned at each other. He booked it to his room as I skipped steps to my-

Palace! Red walls, gold trim, huge black desk with plenty of shelving (all my belonging organized perfectly, including stuff I'd left at home) king sized bed with a canopy and at least 30 feet of floor space with a thick rug on it. A walk in closet to the left of the bed and to the right was a bathroom with an enormous tub/ shower and two sinks. Two sinks. That meant sharing. I'd have to tell Malfoy that I got the shower in the morning. Just then he busted in.

"I get the shower in the morning! Dibs!" he shouted, and burst out laughing. He did that a lot these days.

"Goddammit, you dick! No! I need the shower, if I don't get it, I'll die, I swear!" What the hell?!? That was my shower!!! I'd get him back. I'd just wake up earlier. No one woke up earlier than me. He looked at me soberly.

"Well if that's how you feel about, then, umm, nope, showers still mine. Hey, I wanna see your room!" he said jokingly and brushed past me. I went in after him. He walked immediately up the stereo, which I hadn't packed, but wound up here anyway, thank Merlin.

"What's this? Muggle thing? What's it do?" he seemed to be in a playful mood, and was examining it with chidish interest. Who was this guy? It couldn't be the same Malfoy that I knew and loved, this guy was silly, talkative. He was, in a word, _good._

"It's my stereo. It plays music." I hit the power button and turned onto my favorite CD- Bleed Like Me, a Garbage album. Bad Boyfriend started playing loudly. He looked at me sideways. I realized how provocative the song was and switched it to Run Baby Run. He looked at me with a happy face that showed recognition, or a realization of some kind.

"What?" I asked slowly. At this point, I had no idea what he would do. I had to change his name, he was so different. I had to… call him Draco, I suppose. I just then realized he'd been calling me Hermione, not Granger, and though I didn't remember exact times he'd done it, I knew it had slipped out of his mouth recently.

"Muggle stuff, at least, the musical kind… is pretty cool. I like it. Can it get louder?" I couldn't believe my ears. He liked my normal person toys. I knew I shouldn't feel giddy, like I'd won some battle or showed someone the light, but I felt very proud of myself.

"OK," I told him. "But you asked." I grinned as I pushed the bass button and turned the volume to max level. His eyes went wide as the music blared. He ran out of the room. I had no idea why, so I followed him. He ran down the stairs and cocked his head.

"You can hear it down here, too? They do this without magic? Impressive." Purebloods. Don't know shit.

"It's science, dude." Muggles are very clever at inventing things that make their world easier, since they have it so hard." He flopped down on the couch and looked at me, puzzled.

"Science? What's that do?" OK, I knew he knew what science was. I didn't get what he meant, but I guess he meant how did muggles manipulate it to get loud music like the din coming from upstairs.

"I guess they learn enough about the laws of physics and nature to make their own magic without breaking those laws."

"_We _don't break the laws of nature."

I laughed. "Yea, broomsticks are very aerodynamic. I know that my parents can't get theirs off the ceiling." He nodded and laughed. "I'm hungry," he decided suddenly, and darted into the kitchen. "Want anything?" he called out.

"Umm, what is there?" I asked loudly, over the dull roar of the music. I needed to turn that off, I didn't know if it reached out into the hallway or not. Probably, not, I'd assume there was some spell to silence between rooms, and if not, then the walls were made of thick stone.

"Everything from dinner, I guess the house elves just give us leftovers. Oh, butterbeer, also."

"butterbeer, please, and some chicken!" I called back. I ran upstairs to switch the music off, change into pajamas, and run back down. When I got downstairs, I laid back on the couch next to the fireplace. The flames were crackling and the room was warm. I wore a purple tank top and shorts, it was only early autumn and the weather was still appropriate for it. When Draco walked in, he blanched. Or double-taked, or whatever it is that you call it when a guy almost drops two plates and bottles and his chin hits the ground. He recovered in a half a second and I pretended not to notice. I sat up and sniffed the food.

"Mmm, yay," I said, and 2 seconds later looked wistfully at the empty plate. I sipped my butterbeer and took my plate to the kitchen.

"Thank you for the late supper, my good sir, and sleep well," I said in an overdramatized royal voice.

"you too, madam," sniffed a suddenly uppity Draco, "don't steal my shower!"

That asshole. Way to ruin my good time. Of course I would, though. Tomorrow morning classes started. at 9 AM. So, I needed to be up at 6 to get a shower and breakfast, and of course I needed to check in with my group and tell them all the news… I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.


	5. Chapter 5

Wow, I am so sorry that the story is up so late, I've been really busy lately. I'm going to have a few new chapters for you very soon, and they should be interesting. This is really very loosely based on JK Rowlings novel, and I'm thinking of making Hermione do some crazy stuff in the next few chapters. I'm sure how far I'd like to take her. If you have anything you'd like to say, please review.

I slept later than I meant to, hitting snooze several times before actually waking up enough to know that alarms mean wake up time. Unfortunately, when I did join the land of the living, it was because I heard the shower turn on, and remembered the night before. I tried to work up the energy to be angry about the shower while I stretched and yawned hugely. A bit too hugely, because after a particularly satisfying stretch, I rolled right off the bed and landed in an undignified position on the floor. Not the way I was planning to leave the bed, but one does what they can. I crawled to the closet and very slowly picked out my outfit for the day. I had to wear robes over it for classes, but I could at least still have fun with it. I picked out skinny jeans and a form fitting, button down shirt that I particularly liked. After sniffing the tank top that I wore now for any offensive odors, I pulled that off and laid that down with the pile on my bed. I took off the rest of my clothes and grabbed my towel. Damn Malfoy was still in the shower, so I found other ways to groom myself before actually getting in. by the time L'Oreal Boy decided he was finished, I'd clipped and filed my nails, brushed my hair, put on nail polish, removed the nail polish, done 50 sit ups and finally, just laid back down in bed. Finally, the shower sound stopped and I counted to 50 before entering the bathroom in just my towel.

He stood in front of his sink in just a towel, shaving. It was right then that it hit me: my former worst enemy and I were living in very close quarters. Strangely, neither of us seemed to care, though I felt slightly awkward as we greeted each other and I entered the shower slowly, throwing my towel over the side of the door after I'd entered.

Of course I had forgotten my shampoo. Damn it.

"Hey Malfoy?" I shouted.

"Mmmmffffmmm?" Came a muffled humanoid noise through a scruffling noise. He was brushing his teeth. "I forgot my shampoo, can I use yours? And conditioner, if you have it?"

mmmm- yesh, here roo oh," and shampoo hit me on the top of the head. Seconds later, a conditioner bomb broke my foot.

"Aaaaargh! That was my head- and foot!" I shouted. The only response was a bit of a chuckle, so I just turned the water on full blast. I scrubbed quickly and got out, because I had the feeling I was very late for breakfast. I ran out of the shower and brushed my teeth before pulling on my clothes, fixing my hair so that is was wavy in a good way, not a socially unacceptable afro thing. I ran down to the common room, about to blast of the door, but Malfoy stopped me.

"Hermione, you forgot something," he drawled. I paused. I looked at him momentarily, then looked down at myself. pants? Check. Shirt(s)? check. Robes? I had everything. Didn't i?

"Hint:" he said, smiling, "it holds your books and rhymes with flapjack."

What the fuck? Flapjack? What the hell was with the riddles? I had a feeling that happy Draco would start to annoy me as much as mean ferret would. Oh! Backpack! Shit, he was right. I ran back upstairs, grabbed it, and jumped the staircase into the common room. I was really late for my first day. He was gone already, and I realized I hadn't said thank you. Hadn't said anything, really, after his help with shampoo and my backpack. What was with me? I didn't know. I needed caffeine, or a slap in the face, or cocaine, or something. A pick me up of some kind. I was really lagging. I booked it down to breakfast, and threw myself into a seat by Harry, Ginny, Ron, and several other people.

"Sorry I'm late, guys, Malfoy stole the shower this morning." I told them. A storm of insults rose up and I realized they figured it had been malicious. I tried to explain. "no, but I mean, we worked it out last night that shower rights would be battled over every morning, and this morning I was too comatose to win, but he lent his shampoo and now everything is fine. Really, it's all good." I smiled at my friends, who stared at me like I needed a needed a straightjacket.

"Hermione, are you and that death eater _git_ friends now, or something? Because you're being rather nice about him." Ron said nastily. I felt vaguely guilty but mostly pissed that he could never, ever watch his mouth around me, he was an obtuse little asshole all the time, when I liked him, he went off with some slut and when I stopped he decided he would be all protective and not let me go out with who I wanted! Not that I wanted anyone. I was glad I'd stayed silent, not answered him. What was that little outburst? I didn't like anyone here. No one. I really needed to wake myself up.

Not even thinking about the argument anymore, I muttered "well, he's being nice too, giving me shampoo and all that." And downed a goblet of pumpkin juice and tearing into sausage and eggs sitting on my plate. Ginny stared at me intuitively. She could always tell when something wasn't right. Even when I couldn't she'd ask me what's wrong, and I'd realize something was wrong. And now she was in our grade, since Harry, Ron, and I were held beck, so I had less ways to avoid her. Sure enough, during my first class that we had together, advanced potions, she passed me a note within the first moment of Slughorn starting to drone on about I potion I already started to make.

_Whats with you and Malfoy? You looked so pissed at breakfast, then you just brushed ron off. He was pissed after that. _Not that he had any right to be, what I do is my business!

_Well, ron can just deal. He pisses me off all the time, it's just how we operate. _It was true. I pissed him off, he pissed me off, we spent more time bickering than getting along.

_Sure, yea I know. NOT THE POINT. Draco Malfoy and you. Why are you guys all buddy buddy now?_

_We're not all buddy buddy!_

_Yea, then why's he staring at you?_ He was staring? I looked behind and to the right of me. He held up his hand in a wave, grinned, and stuck out his tongue. I did it back. Was it just me, or did the whole class just turn to look.

Ginny scribbled madly, eyebrows curving and face contorting with confusion. She had an adorable concentrating face.

_What the hell, you guys just stuck your tongues out? How friendly (8 years old, too, I'd like to mention) can you get? Stop lying to me and explain everything! Ok, he's coming over here._ Indeed he was. He walked over to the table and pulled up a chair.

"Want to be partners?" he asked. "After all, you did," and with that he pulled something out of his bag, "forget your book this morning. You were severely out of it, Granger. Running to and fro like a madwoman, stealing my shampoo." His eyes twinkled and I mock frowned at him. He was being very pleasant, which was somewhat embarrassing in front of my friends, and I didn't know if I liked him saying Granger anymore. I grinned at him. I saw Harry look very confused, and Ron turn tomato. A thought struck me that Ron's color changing was very much like the hulk, but ineffectual and not at all scary. I giggled. Now Draco mimicked Harry's confused look. Ginny looked like she was gloating. We were going to have words later, I knew. I had to run everything by mommy.

"Sure, _Malfoy,_" I said pointedly. Do you want to sit here, or should I move?" I made no effort to move, because I really wanted to stay here. I figured my friends were less likely to kill the intruder than the slytherins. They tried that kind of thing all the time. Last night, for example. He had the same idea, a dragged a chair to my desk.

All through class, Ron shot daggers at us with his eyes, as did the the slytherins. I realized how tired I already was of dealing with all the prejudice and judgment that was so typical of the wizarding community. It was possibly the most destructive and useless mindset anyone could have, and though I couldn't control what all the slytherins thought, I could crack down on my friends and make them be polite to Malfoy. I could try to encourage some civility between the two houses. This year was supposed to be different . the war was over, weren't people tired of this bullshit? Malfoy seemed so relieved, and nice, and cool, and funny, and I felt so inspired by his complete 180. I could no longer even imagine that this was a trick. No one could fake the kind of exuberance and kindness he was now displaying. And although he didn't act that way in front of everyone, Ron knew about how he acted when we were alone. He shouldn't be so damned… prejudiced. He was wrong. For the first time ever, Malfoy was in the right. I looked over at him, as this all stewed in my head. His long, blonde hair, curled slightly around the nape of his neck and hung in his eyes, which were focused on the bubbling pot, his mouth was tight. His robes were open, revealing a blue t-shirt that read 'Believe in Peace'. I hadn't noticed it before, but his torso was lean and muscled. He had dark blue jeans on that were somewhat tight and showed off his long, shapely legs. Without his old sneer and greased hair, he looked attractive. I was attracted to him. I was checking out Malfoy. Oh my god, I had the hots for my old enemy, and Ron was feet away watching us together! He wasn't prejudiced, he was jealous! This sudden realization startled me so hard that instead of cutting the bat wing I was supposed to, I slashed my hand open instead.

"Oh, fuck!" I said loudly, and the whole class looked at me. Sintak looked at me sharply, and started to say "10 points from griffin-" But he saw all the blood and realized the reason for my outburst.

"hospital wing, Granger!" he barked sharply "Malfoy, take her." He responded immediately, grabbing a towel and wrapping my it around my hand.

"Keep pressure on that," he commanded, and we left the room. I sneaked a last peek at Ron before I left. He looked pissed, and stood up, as if to follow me. I turned and told Malfoy to walk faster. I could just imagine how awkward (and possibly fatal) an escort like that would be.

"So, are you just trying to kill yourself?" Malfoy asked jokingly.

"Yes sir, and I'm getting pretty damn good at it too, if I do say so myself," I grinned back at him. He turned to face me, a questioning, mischievious look on his face. I became immediately suspicious. He pulled his wand out and grabbed my hand.

"What?" I asked, suddenly nervouis. Maybe he was going to hurt me worse, maybe he still carried a grudge. But it was a false alarm.

"I can heal this as well as Pomfrey can, let's not bother with the hospital wing," and with that, he fixed my hand, and we ran. We didn't know where we were going, but we giggled and played as we ran through the castle. Winded, we arrived at our dorm. We looked at each other and walked in.

"Well, what do we do now, genius? Play in our room all day?" I stated it as if it was an obnoxious idea, but it sounded good to me.

"If you want to," his twinkling eyes made me think he rather liked the idea as well, but I didn't want to entertain that fantasy. So I shoved him and ran into his room. It looked like mine, but messier. Already he had his clothes and belongings strewn about. He followed me in with a few half hearted protests.

"Holy shit, your room is filthy. Doesn't take you long, does it?" I asked, giggling.

"Nope," said Draco casually "Impressive, right?" I pushed him again and rolled my eyes. Ginny was right, we were getting so immature.

"Yea, I can hardly see your bed through the laundry," I mocked.

"Oh, well, then let's just go see your quarters, shall we?" said Draco, and ran through the bathroom and into my room. I followed him closely, and when he stopped abruptly just inside my room, I slammed into the back of him. As I regained my composure he started to sift through my stuff. He started at my desk and bookshelf, named stuff off as he went through it. He went into my closet ond rooted through that for a second before he noticed my broom.

"You fly, Hermione? What are we still doing here?" I looked at him and smiled. It was lucky that we had some time before our next class. The one we had missed was a double, then it was lunch. We took off through the window and raced across the grounds.

I was really happy that Malfoy was head boy. We were becoming really close, and I was glad for that. We were having so much fun together now, and I knew that it was going to be a good year like I had wanted. Different circumstances, but still fun.


End file.
